Trade Group

Seeking to rebut complaints that workers' well-being is eroding as companies downsize and boost profits, the nation's biggest manufacturing trade group released a study Thursday that maintains workers are better off than they think. Conventional wisdom says that today's workers are suffering from wage stagnation and job losses, but the National Assn. of Manufacturers says its study found there has actually been significant growth in employment and real wages since the late 1970s.

As the City Council on Wednesday begins to weigh a modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport, Mayor James K. Hahn and Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski are working overtime to win over the remaining detractors in the community. Miscikowski, who drafted a compromise that postpones the most unpopular elements of the mayor's plan, and Hahn hailed a victory on Monday when the top trade group for the airlines endorsed the councilwoman's plan.

State Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights), an influential legislator for two decades, abruptly announced Thursday that he will resign his seat in January to become president of the California Manufacturers Assn., a major trade group with extensive lobbying operations in Sacramento.

Much of the adult film industry was halted over the weekend after the third performer in a month tested positive for HIV. And on Monday, an advocacy group said a fourth performer had come forward as HIV-positive, although adult industry officials dismissed the report as a "rumor. " The Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade group, called a weeklong filming moratorium last month after actress Cameron Bay tested HIV-positive. A second performer, Rod Daily, who is romantically linked to Bay, announced his status on Twitter and to the Daily News shortly after filming resumed - but that case was not officially reported to the industry group and did not result in a new moratorium.

Participation in snow sports dropped 6% in the most recent winter season, primarily because of increased work and family obligations for snow sport enthusiasts, but also because of low levels of snow, according to a study released Friday. The number of Americans who went skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing, among other snow activities - typically from Thanksgiving to early spring - dropped from 21 million to 19.8 million, according to a report by SnowSports Industries America, a nonprofit trade group for snow sports businesses.

Uncooperative weather has damaged grapes worldwide, causing global wine production to shrivel 6.1% to its lowest point since 1975, according to a Paris trade group. Between dwindling vineyard space and tough climate conditions that pummeled mega-producers France and Italy, wine output worldwide for this year is forecast to be 243.5 million to 252.9 million hectoliters - or 6.4 billion to 6.7 billion gallons - according to the International Organization for Vine and Wine. That's the smallest amount in 37 years, Director General Federico Castellucci said at a Paris news conference Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.

If you plan to fly for the Thanksgiving holiday, you can practically give up on the idea of having an empty seat next to you. On the busiest travel days before and after Thanksgiving Day, the average flight is expected to be 90% full, according to Airlines for America, the trade group for the nation's largest airlines. In contrast, the average flight throughout 2011 was 82% full, according to federal statistics. The rate of filled seats on planes, known as the "load factor," has risen over the last few years as airlines have merged, cut less profitable routes and consolidated flights.

Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) has moved up his timetable to resign from the state Senate and intends to step down today instead of early next year, sources said Thursday. Staff members serving Campbell's office and his legislative committees were informed individually about the hastened departure Thursday. It was unclear what prompted Campbell to speed up his resignation. The senator and his chief assistant, Jerome Haleva, were unavailable for comment Thursday.

The job : Bill Dombrowski is president of the California Retailers Assn., a trade group based in Sacramento that includes most of the country's largest store chains, including 7-Eleven Inc., Safeway Inc., Macy's Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot Inc. For the last 20 years, he's crafted political and legislative strategies for the association, whose members generate more than $570 billion in annual sales and employ nearly 2.8 million people....

State Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights), an influential legislator for two decades, abruptly announced Thursday that he would resign his seat in January to become president of the California Manufacturers Assn., a major trade group with extensive lobbying operations in Sacramento.